TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Northern Illinois scored eight runs in the fourth inning and held off a late Coastal Carolina rally to defeat the Chanticleers 12-10 in the opening round of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional on Friday night at Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium.
Coastal Carolina (37-22) will face top-seeded Florida State in an elimination game on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
The Chanticleers built an early 4-0 lead, scoring once in the first inning and adding three more runs in the second.
Dean Mihos drove in
Walker Mitchell with a sacrifice fly in the first before a Northern Illinois throwing error and
Ty Barrango's sacrifice bunt helped Coastal plate three unearned runs in the second.
Northern Illinois (36-17) answered with two runs in the third inning before taking control with an eight-run fourth. The Huskies sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning, collecting five hits and capitalizing on a Coastal Carolina error, three walks and a hit batter to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 10-4 advantage.
The Chanticleers responded in the bottom of the fifth.
Colby Thorndyke delivered a two-run double and Jackson Winer followed with an RBI double to pull Coastal within 10-7.
Northern Illinois added two insurance runs in the ninth on a two-run double by Nolan Sandee, extending its lead to 12-7.
Coastal Carolina made one final push in the bottom half of the inning. After Cruz Harlan singled and Mitchell was hit by a pitch, Mihos launched a three-run home run to left field, cutting the deficit to 12-10. Northern Illinois closer Carter Cox retired the next two batters to secure the victory.
Mihos paced the Chanticleers offensively, finishing 3-for-5 with a double, home run and four RBIs. Mitchell added two hits and scored twice, while
Domenico Tozzi recorded two hits and two runs scored. Thorndyke drove in two runs and Winer added an RBI double off the bench.
Sandee led Northern Illinois with two hits and four RBIs, while Marcus Romero had two hits and two RBIs. Cole Smith added two hits, including a triple and a double, and scored twice.
Danny Cihocki (7-2) earned the win in relief for the Huskies. Ross Norman (6-7) took the loss for Coastal Carolina after allowing five runs over 3.1 innings.
